Throughout 2008 I tracked dozens of variables, most collected from categories of geographic location, recreation, food & beverage, and communication. I collected these data in an Excel file comprising 14 worksheets in excess of 100,000 cells. The process took minutes per day and that minimal investment is paying out huge returns here at the end of the year as I learn new techniques for data analysis, extrapolate conclusions from 2008 — some of which I knew intuitively while others surprised me — and represent them visually.

The work has been nothing short of exhilarating and I want to encourage you to undertake it also.

Instructions

Design information in four ways to represent 2008 as you experienced it. This can mean:

four separate PowerPoint slides with one design apiece,

one JPEG with four designs gridded onto it,

an Excel spreadsheet inset with four charts,

etc.

Feel free to use pies, bars, dots, bubbles, Sparklines, stacks, or designs of your own construction.

Hey Dan – Here is my submission: http://edtechvision.org/?p=517. You should rename this contest: “How I spent Saturday afternoon when I should have been cleaning the house”. (now you know why I got it done!)
Cheers~
Colette

Claire

Sent my entry in by email. “Entry” loosely, I suppose, since I’d no real intention of competing. Still, it was an interesting experience. I had no idea how much time and money I spent on my cell phone.